Album: Lateralus (2001)

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Songfacts®:

• This instrumental is based on the 3 different instruments standardly used in rock music: guitar, drums and bass guitar. The song starts off with a simple repetition from each instrument, but after a while, the guitar starts playing some chords. After around a minute of this, the guitar switches back to its original chords and then the drums are changed around. After another minute of this, the drums go back to the original beat and the bass playing changes. Then, another minute goes by and the bass playing goes back to normal. After a while, all the instruments start playing their special segments from before. The name for this song "Triad," is about the combination of these instruments to form Tool's very technical playing style. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Joe - Lawrenceville, GA

Comments: 17

• World Engine from Kansas CityThis song completes Disposition and Reflection so precisely and balances all the instrumental layers perfectly . My band “World Engine” draws a huge influence from TOOL and they have inspired us in all aspects of life and our art. We listen to them daily and a new favorite track always emerges and blows our minds creatively! Listen to our new album “Coded Names” available on all platforms!
• Jeroen from Lisse, NetherlandsTo me this song is part of one big story with four songs in it.
  Most of the Tool listeners know about the fibonacci-sequence in the trackorder. For those who don't know:
  http://members.tripod.com/hunk_o_manwich0/ . This site gives a pretty good illustration of the alternative trackorder.
  If you watch the alternate trackorder you can see it goes like this:
  - disposition
  - the Patient
  - Reflection
  - Triad
  
  My story begins here.
  For me the story begins with Disposition. The lyrics are quite simple. The only lyrics in it are these:
  "mention this to me
  mention something
  mention anything
  mention this to me
  watch the weather change"
  These lyrics give me a sense of... well... frustration or something. Everybody keeps on mentioning everything and keeps having an oppinion but nothing changes. The weather is still changing in a bad direction. This can illustrate the story of his mom. Maynards mother died of a stroke. From own experience I can remember that, in a hospital, a hell of a lot is being said but often the situations gets worse and worse. Almost like these lyrics.
  So let's continue with this thought. Maynard's mom had a stroke and is in the hospital where here situation get's worse and worse.
  The next song follows...
  According the alternative trackorder not reflection but the patient comes next. This song already makes sense by only reading the title. Maynard's mom became a patient in a hospital. If you read the entire lyrics (http://toolshed.down.net/lyrics/lateraluslyrics.php - song 3) you notice somebody that's keeping faith in something and continues waiting patiently. This is basically the same with somebody who had a stroke, is in the hospital and the situation get's worse and worse.
  After this song 'Reflection' follows. This song illustrates to me the ending of a life. It's a reflection of a life that's almost done. Maynard propably descripes his mom almost going to die. The situation is thusfar that nothing can be done 'bout it. Triad is the instrumental end of his moms life.
  
  To me these songs are about the death of his mom, the feeling of remorse and the crucifying feeling that nothing and nobody, most importantly himself, can help her.
  This makes these four songs by far the most beautiful and sad songs of Tool. For any other thoughts or additional information, please reply.
• Kevan from San Diego, CaThe song Triad (in my opinion) has to do with categorization schemes for analytical and measurement technologies. If you know anything about the "standard method" which refers to a base measurement technology or analytical method as it is routinely implemented by fixed-laboratories and referenced by state or federal agencies in written documentation (such as EPA's SW-846 methods compendium)The music ends at around 6 minutes, but why did they let the track run, because they wanted it to be 8:46 because it is referring to the EPA SW-846 method, analytical measurements and different methods of discovering them
• Sean from Asdas, MaAre you all insane? The bass starts in the VERY beginning of the song. It's there the entire song. In the 20 times i've seen tool play this live, the bass is always there in the beginning and it definitely is the same on the album.
  
  And to Tim, you are a disgrace to bass players if you can't here the bass until the third minute.
• Nathan from Old Bridge, NjThis song is about the mind, body, and soul
• James from Carlisle, PaIn order to explain my post above more, I'll put a reference here that I saw on wikipedia:
  
  From the Primum Mobile, Dante ascends to a region beyond physical existence, called the Empyrean (Cantos XXX through XXXIII). Here the souls of all the believers form the petals of an enormous rose. Beatrice leaves Dante with Saint Bernard, because theology has here reached its limits. Saint Bernard prays to Mary on behalf of Dante. Finally, Dante comes face-to-face with God Himself, and is granted understanding of the Divine and of human nature. His vision is improved beyond that of human comprehension. God appears as three equally large circles within each other representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit with the essence of each part of God, separate yet one. The book ends with Dante trying to understand how the circles fit together, how the Son is separate yet one with the Father but as Dante put it "that was not a flight for my wings" and the vision of God becomes equally inimitable and inexplicable that no word or intellectual exercise can come close to explaining what he saw. Dante's soul, through God's absolute love, experiences a unification with itself and all things "but already my desire and my will were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed by the Love that turns the sun and all the other stars".
• James from Carlisle, PaAnd it is these 3 rings that form a triad (3).
• James from Carlisle, PaI personally think that this song has some spiritual and religious references to it, despite being without lyrics.
  
  Anybody ever read Dante's Inferno? Eventually, Dante comes into the presence of God, whom is portrayed by 3 rings (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit) and he couldn't describe it, which explains why the song is without lyrics; the experience just can't be explained into words. Therefore, this song could be about coming into the presence of God or, at the least, a divine religious experience.
  
• Harry M from Raleigh, Ncthis whole album has a theme of stuff spinning in circles, and this music goes around from band member to band member having the chance to take the lead and change to song. I don't know if that connection was deliberate but with tool its very possible that they thought of that before they recorded this song.
• Tim from Havertown, PaNot so. Im a bassist of 3 years. I can hear the bassist in there even before the 3rd minute. My view of the song is this... All 3 are playing the same riff. The guitar goes off on its own as the other 2 play the riff. Next the bass goes off with the guitar following, the drums still with the riff, then all 3 are playing a different riff.
• Dan from Santa Clarita, Caand the japanese mafia is the yakuza... i'm in japan currently
• Dan from Santa Clarita, Catriad is also another reference to a standard classical chord. just need to insert my two cents and receive no change
• David from Birmingham, Alby Paradox on 06-09-2003 @ 01:40:49 AM
  It's an instrumental. No vocals. That leaves the guitar, bass, and drums. A triad.
  
• Jesse from Seattle, Wajust a thought but maynard was all about apc and it caused a rift between the other >3< band members and him,could it be based on that at all?
  esp the way that the music is layed out on this track.
  jesse
  www.theworldless.com
• Jeremiah from Youngstown, OhI think this song is just there to explain that Disposition, Reflection, and Triad, all belong together. Because the true definition of triad is a trio, not the Chinese Mafia. Even though everyone already knows these 3 songs belong together, I just felt i had to post this.
• Ian from New York, NyI don't think so. The bass can be heard at the begining, but the guitar and the bass start doing the same riff at 3:00.
• A Demon Hunter from Away From You :)Sorry guys(same dude as Joe), made a little mistake.
  The bass doesn't come in until about 3 minutes into the song.

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